The present invention relates to a change detecting technology for detecting and notifying the generation of an image change, and more particularly to a change detecting method and apparatus and a monitoring system using the method or apparatus that transmits monitor information, generated by detecting the generation of an image change in a monitoring system, to PCs (Personal Computer) or portable or mobile terminals connected via a network.
In recent years, video accumulation and video distribution technologies using the network technology of the Internet or a LAN have been developed for use in monitoring intruders using a monitor camera. Techniques have also been developed for accumulating images as digital data in a storage unit such as a hard disk or a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk).
A technology for detecting a change in an image captured by a monitor camera using the image recognition technology and for sending information on the change to a PC or a portable terminal connected to a network as the monitor information is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Application No. JP2002-347202. Further, a monitor information transmission technology for specifying monitor schedules and monitor regions by providing a table for holding parameters for the times and regions is disclosed in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/840,366 (Applicant's Ref.: US11480 (W1503-01EJ)) and its corresponding Korean patent application No. 2004099144A (Applicant's Ref.: KR61199(W1503-02EJ))(claiming priority from JP-A-2003-139179).
An image recognition technology is also known that traces the moving direction of a moving object by detecting an image change, calculating the size of the moving object and its center of gravity, and continuously processing them for a plurality of frames. For example, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,445,409.